


My Silly Old Vampire.

by LachrymoseLake



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Ship It, Pointless, Short One Shot, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23238676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LachrymoseLake/pseuds/LachrymoseLake
Summary: A moment of calm beneath a twilight sky.
Relationships: Bella Swan/Tanya
Comments: 6
Kudos: 102





	My Silly Old Vampire.

"Did you ever want to fly?" They lay together, the earth a scattering of pine needles and the sky a sliver of baby blues trapped between the melting sun with its hues of golden-purples and auburn-pinks and the inky blue of the cosmos just starting to sparkle with stars.

Bella's warmth hung in the cool evening air like her question: unexpected and yet demanding Tanya's attention. Turning to look at the girl, eyes reflecting the dying light, she slipped her hand into Bella's, fingers sliding together comfortably.

Tanya thought of flying, of the bobbing bustards she had seen along the dry eastern planes of Slovakia with their long, feathered wings and keen eyes. She thought of the darting swallows that filled the western sky with lyrical calls, and the blackbirds who sat so pretty and bright-eyed in tree and branch. Maybe, to be such an animal, to soar above the earth and feel it's current had a certain appeal. 

In theory.

But then, with a frown tugging at her brows, she thought of planes. 

Of braving her first one and being shot into the air in a clunky, rattling box. Of being able to hear every sound of the rudimental engine and spin of flimsy propellers, looking out the window to see an endless expanse of blue and cloud that couldn't quite be comprehended. She remembered feeling small. Hearing everything buzzing around her and then, focusing beyond the plane and there being...nothing. No. A plane can be no bird, and for men to walk the skies was a song sung out of tune. Simply wrong. 

Tanya's place was on the ground, with trees overhead and animals scurrying, people in towns and waterfalls like trails leading into the next unknown. 

"Hm, sometimes," she dragged their hands up, brushing cool lips over their fingers without looking away from Bella. Molten brown eyes caught her own, soft and comfortable as the light fled and shadows started to yawn under pines. "That freedom can seem appealing, but it loses its charm when freedom becomes loneliness. Given enough time," Tanya paused, chest tight before she continued - almost reluctant to voice such a horrid inevitably - "in time loneliness always endures."

She had once thought she was too old to have regrets, but the harshness she found in her words had muscles coiling, mind berating the thoughtlessness. 

Maybe that wasn't the best answer to give, even if she had lived the evidence for hundreds of years. Glancing over, the vampire felt muscles of stone melt at the soft eyes staring up at her without reprimand. The intensity somehow paired with a fond warmth to form an almost painful tenderness that made the ancient vampire want to curl into it. To smother herself and pull the cloak of Bella's love around her and never leave. 

"Oh Tanya," Bella's whisper could almost be lost to the sound of the new night that nattered high in the branches. She reached over, cupped a smooth cheek and sighed as Tanya leant into it with a hum. "My beautiful, silly vampire. Life is so very big, and you have lived so very much of it, but loneliness never wins. I won't let it."

Tanya reached, then, carefully wrapping her arm around warm shoulders and pulling her human close. A warm nose pressed against the column of her throat, a hand grasping the front of her jacket and gentle breath was a reminder of the heart that worked determinedly in Bella's chest, beating away through everything. The wonder of life that was so easy to forget.

"Perhaps that was too dark," Tenya pressed an apologetic kiss to Bellas temple when she huffed, "but I have lived a long time, I've seen more than near anyone, and I can say that flying… it doesn't bring freedom. Or liberation. It just distances you from the world for a moment, but eventually, you must crash down. And the higher you fly, the harder you fall. Better to stay grounded."

"You say that, but it doesn't stop me wishing. I know you, you're getting all philosophical. I'm not talking about the queries of the universe and preserving our sense of identity." She faked a British accent, and Tanya could almost feel her fond eye roll as she slipped her hand inside the vampire's jacket, pulling herself closer so that she was cuddled against a cool side. She sighed. "I'm talking about the feeling. The butterflies and the thrill that feels like a black hole has opened in your stomach and is sucking you in and, Tanya how can you not want to fly."

"I don't need to fly to feel those things." She turned, tilted Beas head with a knuckle under her chin, whispered a breath away from the girl's lips. "I just have to kiss you," and she did, the softest peck, eyes fluttering closed and smile small and adoring, "and I feel what it is to fly."

Despite the rise of a crescent moon, Tanya could taste the blush that flooded pale cheeks and heard the hitch of breath.

"You're such a sap," Bella muttered, quietly pleased and grinning as she hid her face back in Tanya's neck.

"Your sap." Tanya happily conceded.

"Too right, you are."

The quiet that fell over them was comfortable. They listened to the forest's heartbeat, wrapped in each other's arms. Counted the shyly revealed galaxies that peeked out with the earth's turn, and revelled in the wonder of the universe.

Butterflies and black holes, Tanya wasn't lying. She didn't need to fly to feel that. She had waited hundreds of years to feel it, and no plane could compare to the sweet ache of her chest and swoop of her stomach whenever Bella smiled. It was like the rush of wind around her, the glitter of the sun as she ran under a summer sky- 

"Hm, I can't fly, but… when I run, pushing myself as fast as possible, feeling connected to the earth that, by nature, I belong to… I'll have to show you sometime," Tanya pressed a kiss to a soft temple, humming at the taste of honey and her Bella. "Maybe... that's what you mean."

"I would love that."

"Hm, I love you too."

And she laughed, pushing off Tanya and sitting up: "You silly old vampire. My silly old vampire. Let's go home." 

So... they did.

**Author's Note:**

> I really just haven't done anything in ages, and with exams cancelled where I am, thought I might as well panic write about my future.   
> Stay safe everyone, feedback and/or requests would be aceeee and you know... with all this social isolation going on, might as well get connected online.


End file.
